My Schedule 80 AR Grendel

[Sticks]

One could wish, but velocity starts to drop off after 28" IIRC

[jackwagon]

Here is another one of my ideas, electrical schedule 40 PVC handguards.
These barrel nuts are $8 on ebay (free shipping) and will get a barrel attached to a receiver for testing purposes.
The 10 ft, 1-1/2 inch pipe, available at Lowes, has a bell end on one end.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/CANTEX-Common-1...t/50434250
It can be split with a hacksaw (2 crosscuts worked best)and directly attached to the barrel nut with SS hose clamps.
I used 2 clamps for redundancy. I wouldn't want the handguard to release accidentally
A union is necessary to make more handguards out of the rest of the pipe without the bell end, unless you made a 10 foot handguard.
I attached the union with screws but PVC cement would be permanent.
I had to cut a relief cut in the tubing inside the union to clear the gas tube as shown in the photo.

I was surprised at how rigid this is when I used it at the range.


Anyway, more options are better, IMHO.

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They also make a female adapter( if the threads matched up with your barrel nut) you wouldn't need the clamps, just glue the pipe in. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Charlotte-Pipe-...er/3699086

[bj139]

JW,
I think I looked at that since I took the barrel nut to the store and tried the fittings.
I know the barrel nut has a finer thread than the pipe threads.
Good thinking though.

The union I used has a slight rattle fit, I'm guessing 0.5mm clearance so I needed to slit it to squeeze it around the barrel nut.
I tried melting it around the nut with a torch while squeezing with the clamps instead of slitting it.
That worked but it looked ugly and no threads were formed in the plastic.

[Forrest]

Took my first trip down to Brownells today. Standing there looking at Magpul stuff, two guys next to me are talking about some guy building a stock and handguard from pvc. I asked if they were on 6.5 forum? Nope some other site they said. Small world a?

[bj139]

Took my first trip down to Brownells today. Standing there looking at Magpul stuff, two guys next to me are talking about some guy building a stock and handguard from pvc. I asked if they were on 6.5 forum? Nope some other site they said. Small world a?

I posted the same thing on the Facebook group AR15 Snob Free.

It turns out there are more snobs on that site than on 65 Grendel by a huge margin.

Once again, thanks for the kind comments everyone.

[NugginFutz]

Whatever blows your skirt up, bj139. I've seen some fairly strange adaptations, both here and abroad (including the now iconic shovel handle stock.) "Form follows function", as they say.

I remember a few folks that cried "Unclean!" when the wooden AR stocks and hand guards were first being marketed. Look now - they've become part of the landscape.

While I can't say that I would build a setup such as yours, I have to tip my hat for your perseverance and ingenuity in making it all come together in a functioning way.

[bj139]

Thanks, NF. This is not a permanent build but a short term solution to get more stability with a pistol buffer tube with the NFA SBR limitation.

Not for You, NF, but in case others read this who may not know: 16" or greater barrels only, if you do not have a SBR permit.

The pieces for the buttstock are not even glued together and it is still VERY stable.

[Dcommoncents]

Here is another one of my ideas, electrical schedule 40 PVC handguards.
These barrel nuts are $8 on ebay (free shipping) and will get a barrel attached to a receiver for testing purposes.
The 10 ft, 1-1/2 inch pipe, available at Lowes, has a bell end on one end.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/CANTEX-Common-1...t/50434250
It can be split with a hacksaw (2 crosscuts worked best)and directly attached to the barrel nut with SS hose clamps.
I used 2 clamps for redundancy. I wouldn't want the handguard to release accidentally
A union is necessary to make more handguards out of the rest of the pipe without the bell end, unless you made a 10 foot handguard.
I attached the union with screws but PVC cement would be permanent.
I had to cut a relief cut in the tubing inside the union to clear the gas tube as shown in the photo.

I was surprised at how rigid this is when I used it at the range.


Anyway, more options are better, IMHO.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10444[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]10445[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]10446[/ATTACH]

Its not pretty, but I can certainly appreciate ingenuity. If you weld, you can get even more creative. I need to get a bottle of argon before I can start welding aluminum, but once I do I'm going to take a crack at home made muzzle devices and light mounts out of materials available at lowes, etc.

[bj139]

Its not pretty, but I can certainly appreciate ingenuity. If you weld, you can get even more creative. I need to get a bottle of argon before I can start welding aluminum, but once I do I'm going to take a crack at home made muzzle devices and light mounts out of materials available at lowes, etc.

I have TIG welder and have practised with aluminum. It seems fairly easy if you have at least 10 hours of steel TIG experience.

The PVC was more about quick builds to get the barrel to the range to see how it shoots and a cold weather solution for hunting (less thermal conductivity).

The last two electrical builds I posted (16" 6.5 Grendel and 24" 223) now seem to be permanent.

They function well enough so I don't care for a commercial handguard on them.

The buttstock on the pistol lower I posted first is not together. It will be temporary if I need it.

[Dcommoncents]

I have TIG welder and have practised with aluminum. It seems fairly easy if you have at least 10 hours of steel TIG experience.

I have plenty of experience welding steel with flux core wire, even fabbed up some intricate rock sliders for my truck, but I've yet to weld anything with a separate shielding gas, much less aluminum, so I'm glad to hear that it's not too difficult.

[Sticks]

TIG welding is not wire feed. It requires a steady hand and as stated, some hours of experience.

MIG (wire feed) welding aluminum...metal has to be clean, clean, clean. Right shielding gas, and indoors.

[bj139]

I have not done any aluminum MIG so I can't comment specifically but steel MIG is easier than steel TIG to just join medium to large parts.

I need a spool gun for my MIG welder to do aluminum and never bought one since I had TIG.

TIG is easier to do small work without making a puddle of molten gun parts.

[bj139]

By the way, with a reciprocating side charger, you wouldn't have to mortar it. Just give the bolt handle a smack with a 2x4.

Yes. You are right. I did that with my attempt at making a manual AR for deer hunting. I just gave up and bought a Howa bolt action Grendel.

[bj139]

The reason I finally posted this subject was because of these two photos posted by LRRPF52 in the thread "Better Entry Level Grendel".
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These two ARs looked very lonely without any handguards at all.

Now for buttstocks...Hmm.